Guide to Understanding Scores on the English Language Development Assessment (ELDA)

Transcription

1 Guide to Understanding Scores on the English Language Development Assessment (ELDA) In the spring of 2007, your students took the English Language Development Assessment (ELDA). The enclosed score reports provide information at the student, school, and district level, and each is described below. All four reports provide information about performance in four areas: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing, the four tests students took in the spring of In addition, the reports include Comprehension (based on Listening and Reading) and Composite (based on all four tests). Scale scores for Comprehension and Composite are the mean scale scores of the tests that make them up. For example, the Comprehension scale score is the mean of the student s Listening and Reading scale scores. Proficiency levels for the four tests are based on standards recommended by groups of ELL teachers from around the country and adopted by CCSSO. Standards were set for clusters of students (grades K, 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12). There is no further differentiation of proficiency levels within a grade cluster. For example, the same standard that applies to a third grader applies to a fifth grader. Proficiency levels for Comprehension and Composite are derived by applying a set of rules these same teachers recommended and which CCSSO adopted. These rules are explained on pages 3-5. Score Report (Individual Student Report) The Individual Student Report shows the four test scores (Score) and proficiency levels (Level) as well as proficiency levels for Comprehension and Composite. Student Roster The Roster summarizes the performances of all students in a class or school. The scores and proficiency levels of all students tested are provided. All explanations for the Individual Student Report apply to the Roster as well. District Summary Report The District Summary shows the numbers (N) and percentages (%) of students at each proficiency level and provides a mean (average) scale score for each test. Ranges of scale scores for each grade cluster and proficiency level are included at the bottom of this page. The District Summary also provides a measure of variability (standard deviation) as well as the lowest and highest scores for each test, to give a sense of range of student performance. The Score Range at the top of the page is the range of Composite scale scores. Demographic Report The Demographic Report breaks down student performance by gender, ethnicity, time in U. S., time in program, and first language. Groups are based on information students or teachers provided on the answer document. The report shows the total number of students who have taken all four tests (# Valid Scores), the percentage of students in that group who scored at the Fully English Proficient (% FEP) level, and the Mean Scale Score for that group. Minimum Scale Scores for Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and FEP Levels Grade Cluster/ Beginning Intermediate Advanced Fully English Test (Level 2) (Level 3) (Level 4) Proficient (Level 5) K Listening K Speaking K Reading K Writing Listening Speaking Reading Writing Listening Speaking Reading Writing

2 6-8 Listening Speaking Reading Writing Listening Speaking Reading Writing

3 Explanation of Composite Proficiency Levels for grades K, and 1-2 Level 1 Pre-functional indicates that the student who is limited English proficient: may understand some isolated spoken words, commands, and questions, but often requires non-verbal cues and frequent repetition may speak or repeat common phrases and words and can ask one- to two-word questions demonstrates an understanding of concepts of print (left to right, top to bottom) and can follow one-step directions depicted graphically achieves written communication only through drawing pictures; may be able to copy letters or words successfully; or may form letters from memory but is unable to transmit meaning Level 2 Beginning indicates that the student who is limited English proficient: understands short, simple oral statements on familiar topics; follows simple multi-step directions; requires frequent repetition and rephrasing predominantly uses formulaic speech patterns and memorized phrases; responds to questions with one- to twoword answers begins to identify the names of letters; begins to recognize the different functions of words; can follow multi-step directions depicted graphically achieves written communication through drawing pictures or dictating words; can revise or edit with teacher support; commits frequent mechanical errors Level 3 Intermediate indicates that the student who is limited English proficient: understands sentence-length statements and questions; understands main idea and some details from conversations and simple oral texts; is beginning to develop key vocabulary, interpret meaning, and understand some idioms restructures learned language into original speech; has limited vocabulary and marked errors in speech; can use language to retell, describe, narrate, question, and instruct, but not fluently comprehends single words and simple text, as well as simple sentence structure and simple compounding; recognizes the different functions of words, and that words have multiple meanings participates in writing activities with teacher support; writes simple and compound sentences; is beginning to write with phrases; uses transition words; can edit, usually with teacher support; most writing is descriptive, expository, procedural, or narrative Level 4 Advanced indicates that the student who is limited English proficient: understands most school/social conversations; grasps main ideas and relevant details; comprehends most gradelevel vocabulary and idioms; is developing a wide range of academic vocabulary in the content areas restructures language to communicate orally; uses connective devices; responds in a mostly coherent, unified, and sequenced manner; has sufficient vocabulary to communicate in most situations; is fluent but may hesitate or make errors in spontaneous communicative situations reads familiar text with little support, but needs support to comprehend unfamiliar text; identifies all story elements; is beginning to read across text types and apply what they read to other activities participates in writing activities with minimal support; restructures known language in writing; writes mostly coherent, unified, and sequenced sentences; uses connective devices and a range of grammatical structures, with some errors; possesses a strong social vocabulary and a functional academic vocabulary; writes and edits all text types Level 5 Full English Proficiency indicates that the student who is limited English proficient: understands most grade-level speech, both social and academic; understands main ideas and relevant details at a level comparable to a native English speaker at the same grade level; has a broad range of vocabulary including idiomatic language responds orally in a coherent, unified, and sequenced manner; uses a variety of connective devices; understands and uses a range of simple and complex grammatical structures; has grammar and vocabulary comparable to a native English speaker at the same grade level and shows flexibility, creativity and spontaneity speaking in many contexts participates in reading activities at grade level comparable to their English speaking peers with little teacher support; reads across text types; has an increasing range of social and academic vocabulary; understands multiple word meanings participates in writing activities with no teacher support; edits complex sentence structures with some errors; utilizes precise social and academic vocabulary; understands the use of nuance and subtlety in writing for different audiences 3

4 Explanation of Composite Proficiency Levels for grades 3-12 Level 1 - Pre-functional indicates that the student who is limited English proficient is: Beginning to understand short utterances Beginning to use gestures and simple words to communicate Beginning to understand simple printed material Beginning to develop communicative writing skills Level 2 - Beginning indicates that the student who is limited English proficient can: Understand simple statements, directions, and questions Use appropriate strategies to initiate and respond to simple conversation Understand the general message of basic reading passages Compose short informative passages on familiar topics Level 3 - Intermediate indicates that the student who is limited English proficient can: Understand standard speech delivered in school and social settings Communicate orally with some hesitation Understand descriptive material within familiar contexts and some complex narratives Write simple texts and short reports Level 4 - Advanced indicates that the student who is limited English proficient can: Identify the main ideas and relevant details of discussions or presentations on a wide range of topics Actively engage in most communicative situations familiar or unfamiliar Understand the context of most text in academic areas with support Write multi-paragraph essays, journal entries, personal/business letters, and creative texts in an organized fashion with some errors Level 5 - Full English Proficiency indicates that the student who is limited English proficient can: Understand and identify the main ideas and relevant details of extended discussion or presentations on familiar and unfamiliar topics Produce fluent and accurate language Use reading strategies the same as their native English-speaking peers to derive meaning from a wide range of both social and academic texts Write fluently using language structures, technical vocabulary, and appropriate writing conventions with some circumlocutions A more complete set of proficiency level definitions is included on the final page of this Guide. 4

5 Explanation of Rules for Establishing Proficiency Levels for Comprehension and Composite Comprehension proficiency levels are based on a combination of the proficiency levels students received on Listening and Reading. The table below shows how Listening and Reading proficiency levels are combined to yield a Comprehension level: Rules for Combining Listening and Reading Levels to Yield a Comprehension Level If Reading Level is: And Listening Level is: Then Comprehension Level is: For example, if a student received a level 3 on Reading and a level 2 on Listening, the student received a level 3 for Comprehension. However, if the levels were reversed (3 on Listening and 2 on Reading), the Comprehension level would have been 2. A similar set of rules is used to create an intermediate score called Production (from Speaking and Writing). While Production is not reported, it is combined with Comprehension to produce the Composite score (next page). Composite proficiency levels are based on a combination of the proficiency levels students received on all four language domains. A Production level, which is a combination of Speaking and Writing, is determined for each student and combined with the Comprehension level the student received. The Production level is not reported as a separate score; it is used only to determine the Composite level. The next table shows how Speaking and Writing proficiency levels are combined to yield a Production level: 5

6 Rules for Combining Speaking and Writing Levels to Yield a Production Level If Writing Level is: (All Grade Levels) And Speaking Level is: Then Production Level is: The next table shows how Comprehension and Production proficiency levels are combined to yield a Composite level: 6

7 Rules for Combining Comprehension and Production Levels to Yield a Composite Level If Production Level is: (All Grade Levels) And Comprehension Level is: Then Composite Level is: When the Comprehension and Production levels are not the same, the rule is to average the two levels and round down. For example, if the Production level were 3 and the Comprehension were 4, the average would be 3.5, and the final Composite would be 3. Because the proficiency levels for Comprehension and Composite are based on rules applied to the Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing proficiency levels, it is quite possible for one student to have a higher Comprehension or Composite scale score than another student but still have a lower proficiency level. Consider the following two students, both in fifth grade. Student A received scale scores of 550 on Listening and 570 on Reading. The Comprehension scale score for Student A is the mean of these two scale scores, or 560. Student B received scale scores of 508 on Listening and 592 on Reading. Student B s Comprehension scale score is 550, which is 10 points lower than student A s scale score. However, student A s proficiency levels were 3 for Listening and 2 for Reading, which gives a Comprehension level of 2. Student B s proficiency levels were 2 for Listening and 3 for Reading, which gives a Comprehension level of 3. Because such apparent reversals are possible, student scale scores for Comprehension and Composite are not reported on the Individual Student Report and Roster. The teachers and administrators who developed the rules were unanimous in their agreement that rule-based proficiency levels for Comprehension and Composite would be more useful in the long run because they would prevent premature exit from programs for students who quickly mastered some listening and speaking skills without mastering necessary reading and writing skills. 7

8 Performance Level Definitions LISTENING Entry into Level 5 (Fully English Proficient) Students at this level understand a significant amount of grade-level appropriate content-area and school-social speech. They understand the main ideas as well as relevant details and often subtle nuances of meaning of extended discussions or presentations on a range of familiar and unfamiliar topics comparable to a minimally proficient native English speaker at the same grade level. They are capable of making interpretations of what they listen to on the basis of understanding the speaker s purpose. They understand most of the complex structures of spoken English relative to their grade level. They have a broad range of vocabulary, including idiomatic language, relating to both content areas and school-social environments. Entry into Level 4 (Advanced) Students at this level understand speech in most school-social settings and understand main ideas and some key supporting ideas in content-area settings. They understand multistep directions. They understand main ideas and significant relevant details of extended discussions or presentations on familiar and relevant academic topics. They can interpret text on the basis of understanding the purpose of text when it is on a familiar topic. They understand and are able to make subtle extrapolations from sophisticated speaker perspectives. They understand most of the basic language forms of spoken English and are beginning to develop understanding of more complex structures. They understand a wide range of vocabulary and idioms, especially of school-social environments, and are beginning to develop a wide range of technical vocabulary related to content areas. Entry into Level 3 (Intermediate) Students at this level understand main ideas in short conversations on general school-social topics and frequently demonstrate general understanding of short messages or texts as well as longer conversations in familiar communicative situations and in academic content areas. They frequently demonstrate detailed understanding of short discrete expressions but not of longer conversations and messages. They understand single-step and some multistep directions. They can begin to interpret text on the basis of understanding its purpose. They understand some explicitly expressed points of view and can draw simple conclusions. They understand frequently used verb tenses and word-order patterns in simple sentences. They understand a range of vocabulary and some idioms, mostly related to school-social environments, and have some key vocabulary from content areas. Entry into Level 2 (Beginning) Students at this level understand simple and short statements, questions, and messages on familiar topics in schoolsocial settings, and usually understand the main idea of simple messages and conversations. They can understand most common or critical information in the classroom but may identify and understand only key words, phrases, and cognates in content-area settings. They begin to understand straightforward, single-step directions and speaker s purpose. They have limited understanding of details and only of those that are explicitly stated and that support simple, straightforward messages or presentations. They are unable to extrapolate from text unless related to very basic ideas. They understand simple, basic grammatical structures and simple, basic, everyday vocabulary of spoken English in the school environment and common everyday activities. Level 1 (Pre-functional) Students at this level may understand some common words or key phrases, especially when highly contextualized or when cognates. They may understand some high-frequency single-word or single-phrase directions, again, when highly contextualized. They generally are unable to use their limited knowledge of simple structural patterns to identify the communicative intent of the speaker. 8

9 SPEAKING Entry into Level 5 (Fully English Proficient) Students who are ready to enter Level 5, Fully English Proficient, can supply coherent, unified and appropriately sequenced responses to an interlocutor. They use a variety of devices to connect ideas logically. They understand and can use a range of complex and simple grammatical structures, as appropriate for topic and type of discourse. Their grammar and vocabulary is comparable to that of a minimally proficient native English speaker grammar errors very seldom impede communication and their range of school-social and technical vocabulary allows a precision of speech comparable to a minimally proficient native English speaker. They infrequently but effectively use circumlocution. They can understand and use a variety of idiomatic phrases. They can effectively engage in noninteractive speech. They can use language effectively to connect, tell, expand, and reason. They show flexibility, creativity and spontaneity in speech in a variety of contexts. Their pronunciation patterns (including stress and intonation) may be influenced by L1 but seldom interfere with communication. Entry into Level 4 (Advanced) Students entering proficiency Level 4, the Advanced level, can supply mostly coherent, unified and appropriately sequenced responses to an interlocutor. They use some devices to connect ideas logically and they use a range of grammatical structures. They make errors in modality, tense, agreement, pronoun use, and inflections, but these errors usually do not interfere with communication. Students have sufficient vocabulary to communicate in non-academic situations and some academic and technical vocabulary. They use circumlocutions and can appropriately use some idiomatic phrases. They can engage in extended discussions. They can often use language to connect, tell and expand; and can begin to use it to reason. Their flexibility, creativity and spontaneity are sometimes adequate for the communicative situation. Their pronunciation occasionally interferes with communication. Entry into Level 3 (Intermediate) Students entering proficiency level 3, the Intermediate level, display some use of discourse features but mainly rely on familiar, discrete utterances. They rely on simple transitional markers and use common, straightforward grammatical structures. They make errors in modality, tense, agreement, pronoun use, and inflections. These errors seldom interfere with communication in simple sentences, but do interfere in complex constructions or when talking about academic issues. Intermediate level students are limited in vocabulary, especially academic and technical vocabulary. They use repetition; everyday, imprecise words; and code-switching to sustain conversations. They begin to use idiomatic expressions. They can retell, describe, narrate, question, and give simple, concrete instructions. They can often use language to connect and tell and sometimes to expand. They have some creativity and flexibility but often repeat themselves and hesitate. Their pronunciation patterns frequently interfere with communication. Entry into Level 2 (Beginning) Students who are just entering proficiency level 2, the beginning level, use predominantly formulaic patterns in speech without regard to their connectivity. They may use some very simple transitional markers. They predominantly use formulaic patterns and memorized phrases, relying on schemata in L1. Their word order is frequently inappropriate and frequent grammatical mistakes impede communication. Their school-social vocabulary is limited to key words; they have little or no technical vocabulary. They rely on survival vocabulary (needs and wants) and vocabulary provided by interlocutors. They may be able to name or list and can sometimes use language to connect or tell. Their limited vocabulary and knowledge of English structures impedes flexibility. Level 1 (Pre-functional) Students in proficiency level 1 are not yet at a functional level in English. They may repeat common phrases with very simple structures; be able to say a few, common, everyday words; and may be able to provide some basic information in response to requests. 9

10 READING Entry into Level 5 (Fully English Proficient) Students at this level understand the range of texts available to minimally proficient native English speakers, including literary and academic genres and texts from school-social settings. They understand main ideas and can extract precise and detailed information from a range of texts on familiar and unfamiliar topics in a number of genres comparable to a minimally proficient native English reader at the same grade level. They often successfully interpret text on the basis of understanding its purpose. They often successfully understand and can evaluate multiple perspectives of meaning. They understand complex structures of written English and have a broad range of vocabulary and idioms relating to both content areas and school-social environments. Entry into Level 4 (Advanced) Students at this level understand most nonacademic and nontechnical texts appropriate for grade level. They understand many content area texts, mostly on familiar topics and approaching grade level. They understand excerpts from literature. They understand most written directions. They understand main ideas of a broad range of texts especially when below grade level but also approaching grade level. They can begin to interpret text on the basis of understanding its purpose. They understand significant relevant details and can make subtle extrapolations of extended narratives or presentations on familiar academic topics. They understand sophisticated writer perspectives. They understand most of the basic language forms of written English and are beginning to develop understanding of more complex structures. They understand a wide range of vocabulary and idioms, especially of school-social environments, and are beginning to develop a wide range of technical vocabulary related to content areas. Entry into Level 3 (Intermediate) Students at this level understand many authentic narrative and descriptive texts, especially when below grade level but with less complete comprehension for such texts on grade level. They understand content-area texts with familiar content, mostly when below grade level. They understand excerpts from literature especially when below grade level. They understand simple written directions as well as some more complexly expressed directions. They understand main ideas of narrative and descriptive texts and some of the main points of expository and persuasive texts when they deal with areas of personal interest or topic familiarity. They begin to understand text purpose. They can understand some supporting ideas of expository and persuasive texts when dealing with areas of special interest. They understand some explicitly expressed points of view of writer and are able to draw simple conclusions. They understand frequently used verb tenses and word-order patterns in simple sentences. They understand a range of vocabulary and some idioms, mostly related to school-social environments, and have some key vocabulary from content areas. Entry into Level 2 (Beginning) Students at this level understand short and simple authentic texts for informative or social purposes (e.g., general public statements, environmental texts, formulaic messages). They have some understanding of short narrative texts or trade books, mostly when below grade level. They begin to understand some straightforward written directions. They understand main ideas and can identify a few explicit supporting ideas of simple authentic informative and narrative materials when they contain simple language structures or rely heavily on visual cues or some prior experience with topic. They have some limited understanding text purpose. They are unable to extrapolate from text unless related to very basic ideas. They understand simple basic grammatical structures of written English in the school social environment. They understand simple, basic everyday vocabulary of the school environment and common everyday activities. Level 1 (Pre-functional) Students at this level may identify isolated words and key phrases and cognates, especially when highly contextualized. They may understand some high-frequency, simple written directions, especially when highly contextualized. They are unable to identify any ideas intended by writer of text or to use limited knowledge of vocabulary and structural patterns to identify communicative intent of text or part of text. They do not understand how words, morphemes, and word order convey meaning in English. 10

11 WRITING Entry into Level 5 (Fully English Proficient) Students at this level demonstrate almost completely appropriate use of discourse features such as transition phrases and word order. They can revise for content, organization and vocabulary. They can use complex sentence structures, with some errors, and can edit for syntax and grammar. They have a range of technical and nonacademic vocabulary that allows for precision and they begin to use nuanced and alternative word meanings. They employ subtleties for different audiences and purposes. They can use appropriate writing conventions with some circumlocutions and errors that do not affect comprehensibility. Finally, they can successfully compose narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive texts. Entry into Level 4 (Advanced) Students at this level demonstrate mostly successful use of discourse features such as transition words and sentence order. They can revise for content, organization and vocabulary and show good control of the most frequently used grammatical structures, with errors. They can edit for sentence-level structure. They have sufficient vocabulary to express themselves with some circumlocutions, which are more frequent in academic contexts. Their tone indicates some awareness of audience. They can use appropriate writing conventions, with circumlocutions and errors that infrequently affect comprehensibility. Finally, they can successfully compose narrative and descriptive texts and they may be successful writing expository and persuasive texts. Entry into Level 3 (Intermediate) Students at this level demonstrate some use of discourse features such as transition words and sentence order. They begin to revise for content, organization and vocabulary. They demonstrate comprehensible use of basic sentence structures, with errors and can begin to edit for sentence-level structure. They use everyday vocabulary but know very few content-specific words. There is some variation in their register, voice, and tone. They may frequent mechanical errors, particularly when expressing complex thoughts or technical ideas. Finally, students can compose narrative and some descriptive texts and can begin to write expository and persuasive texts. Entry into Level 2 (Beginning) Students at this level may or may not use some basic rhetorical features such as ordering sentences appropriately and using simple cohesive devices. They are unlikely to revise their writing spontaneously. Their writing is limited to typical, present-tense, subject-verb-object sentences or phrases and is likely to be repetitive. They edit only with explicit support and direction and have a limited vocabulary. They make frequent errors in mechanics, which is characteristic and expected. Their text range is limited to narrative or simple descriptive. Level 1 (Pre-functional) Students at this level are not yet functional in English. They might be able to copy letters or form them from memory and might be able to write words; however, their text does not transmit a coherent message. They do not use discourse features in their writing. There is no evidence of appropriate text structure and sentence-level structure is predominantly inappropriate. They may attempt to apply some writing conventions but do so inappropriately or do so correctly only when copying. COMPREHENSION Entry into Level 5 (Fully English Proficient) Students at this level understand the range of texts available to minimally proficient native English speakers on content-area and non-content-area topics. They understand main ideas, relevant details, and often subtle nuances of meaning of a range of texts on familiar and unfamiliar topics, comparable to a minimally proficient native English speaker at the same grade level. They often successfully interpret text on the basis of understanding its purpose. They understand and can evaluate multiple writer or speaker perspectives. They understand complex structures of English and have a broad range of vocabulary relating to both content areas and school social environments. Entry into Level 4 (Advanced) Students at this level understand most non-academic and non-technical texts appropriate for grade level. They understand main ideas and some key supporting ideas in content-area texts, mostly on familiar topics and approaching grade level. They understand most multi-step directions. They understand main ideas and significant relevant details of a broad range of texts on familiar and relevant academic topics, especially when below grade level but also approaching grade level. They can begin to interpret text on the basis of understanding its purpose. They understand 11

12 and are able to make subtle extrapolations from sophisticated writer and speaker perspectives. They understand most of the basic language forms of English and are beginning to develop understanding of more complex structures. Entry into Level 3 (Intermediate) Students at this level understand short simple texts on general school-related topics, especially when below grade level, but their comprehension is less complete for such texts on grade level. They understand content-area texts with familiar content, mostly when below grade level. They understand single-step and some multi-step directions. They understand main ideas and some supporting ideas of short simple texts when they deal with areas of personal interest in familiar communicative situations and academic content areas. They begin to understand text purpose. They can understand some complex text types, especially when dealing with areas of special interest. They understand some explicitly expressed points of view and are able to draw simple conclusions. They understand frequently used verb tenses and word-order patterns in simple sentences. They understand short simple text on familiar topics, especially when containing formulaic language. Entry into Level 2 (Beginning) Students at this level may only identify and understand key words, phrases, and cognates in content area settings. Can begin to follow straightforward, single-step directions. Usually understands main ideas of simple texts, when they contain simple language structures and /or rely heavily on visual cues and/or some prior experience with topic. Has some limited understanding of purpose of text. Has limited understanding of details and only of those that are explicitly stated. Is unable to extrapolate from text unless related to very basic ideas. Understand simple basic grammatical structures of English in the school environment. Understand simple basic everyday vocabulary of the school environment and common everyday activities. Level 1 (Pre-functional) Students at this level may recognize some common words or key phrases, especially when they are highly contextualized or when they are cognates. They may understand some high frequency single word or phrase directions, again, when highly contextualized. They are unable to identify any ideas or use their limited knowledge of simple structural patterns or vocabulary to identify writer or speaker communicative intent. 12